Former team manager denies claims he said India vs England Manchester Test was fixed

India lost that Test in 2014 by an innings and 54 runs.

Sunil Debv, the former team manager of India, has denied claims in which he was quoted as saying the Test match against England in Manchester in 2014 was fixed.

On Monday Dev stated that the newspaper which carried out the sting operation is trying to shame him and he is going to sue the daily.

"It is all rubbish. I am planning to sue this Hindi daily and will seek legal recourse against anyone else who makes such malicious claims," Dev was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

On Sunday, Dev was quoted as questioning Dhoni over his decision to bat first in overcast conditions against England.

A hindi daily Sun Star carried out a sting operation and Dev reportedly made the allegations in a video that was played at the Press Club in Delhi on Sunday.

The former India manager stated that in the team meeting they had decided to bowl first as the conditions were overcast.

However, Dhoni won the toss and asked England to bowl first. India lost that Test match at the Old Trafford in Manchester by an innings and 54 runs. The India batting lineup crumbled for a meagre 152 runs in the first innings. England had posted 367 on the scoreboard. When India came out to bat in the second innings, they could only manage 161 runs.

Dev further stated that former England captain Geoffrey Boycott, who was a part of the commentary team in that Test match, was also stunned with this decision of batting first by Dhoni.

Dev also wrote a private letter to the-then president of the BCCI, N Srinivasan, but his letter was ignored. The former manager added, saying, he had feared for his life, and thus he decided to stay quiet.

"Given the conditions of the pitch due to rain, we have decided to bowl first in a team meeting but I was surprised that Dhoni opted to bat first," Dev was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

However, Justice Mukul Mudgal, who is heading the IPL spot-fixing committee, has rubbished Sunil Dev's claims. Mudgal asserted that was no evidence of match-fixing, and if Dev was so sure about this match being fixed, he should have followed up with a few more mails to the Board.

"You can have the evidence on tape, that too after tapping the phone and BCCI's anti-corruption unit is not authorised to do it, only police can do phone tapping. Match-fixing is not as common as it has been highlighted and unless there are 2-3 big players involved, it can't be done," Mudgal said.